Good wishes for the
Year of the Snake. The snake pattern symbolizes good fortune, the fireworks
represent wishes for peace, and the fish stands for abundance. While saying
farewell to the celestial dragon, we welcome the intelligent snake. Chinese New
Year in 2013 falls on Sunday, Feb. 10— it is the Year of the Snake.
Dragon Dances
The most exciting and spectacular way of expressing gratitude for the dragon is the dragon dance. From a ritual rain dance to a popular entertainment performed during the Chinese New Year, the dragon dance has come a long way. The Chinese New Year dragon dance symbolizes the bringing of good luck and success in the coming year for all the human beings on earth. Dragons are considered as the governors of rainfall. In China, where the majority of people depend on agriculture for their livelihood, the timely arrival of rains is a necessity.
It is the Chinese New Year tradition that every family gives its house a thorough cleaning, the 20th of the Twelfth Moon was set aside for the annual housecleaning, or the "sweeping of the grounds". Every corner of the house must be swept and cleaned in preparation for the new year, hoping to sweep away all the ill-fortune there may have been in the family to make way for the wishful in-coming good luck. People also give their doors and window-panes a new paint, usually in red color. They decorate the doors and windows with paper-cuts and couplets with the very popular theme of "happiness", "wealth", "logevity" and "satisfactory marriage with more children".
In addition, symbolic flowers and fruits were also used to decorate the house, and colorful new year pictures (NIAN HUA) were placed on the walls.
Chinese doors almost always bear decoration of some type. The (dui lian) are the set of banners hung above and to the sides of the door. They are always red and have a message of good luck or blessings of prosperity. Any door or gate can be decorated in this way -- even a pig stall or a barn. A special, widely-seen type of duilian is the chunlian, used as a New Year's decoration that expresses happy and hopeful thoughts for the coming year.
On New Year’s day early in the morning, children greet their parents and receive their presents in terms of cash wrapped up in red paper envelopes, the Lai See envelopes also called Hong-Bao. Then, the family starts out to say greetings from door to door, first to their relatives and then to their neighbors. This Chinese New Year tradition is a great way to reconcile forgetting all old grudges., everyone had on new clothes, and would put on his best behavior. It was considered improper to tell a lie, raise one’s voice, use indecent language, or break anything on the first day of the year.
The Seventh Day of the New Year was called "everybody’s birthday" as everyone was considered one year older as of that date. (In traditional China, individual birthdays were not considered as important as the New Year’s date. Everyone added a year to his age at New Year’s time rather than at his birthday.)
On the last day of the old year, everyone was busy either in preparing food for the next two days. Tradition stipulated that all food be pre-pared before the New Year’s Day, so that all sharp instruments, such as knives and scissors, could be put away to avoid cutting the "luck" of the New Year. The kitchen and well were not to be disturbed on the first day of the Year. The New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations were strickly family affairs. After dinner, it is time for the whole family to sit up for the night while having fun playing cards or board games or watching TV programs dedicated to the occasion. It is also a tradition to keep every light on the whole night. At midnight, the younger members of the family would bow and pay their respects to their parents and elders.
The Eve of the Chinese New Year is very carefully observed. Supper is a feast, with all members coming together. One of the most popular Chinese New year tradition course is “jiaozi”, dumplings boiled in water. "Jiaozi" in Chinese literally mean "sleep together and have sons", a long-lost good wish for a family. All members of the family would gather for the important family meal on the evening of the New year’s Eve. Even if a family member could not attend, an empty seat would be kept to symbolize that person’s presence at the banquet.
There are many opinions regarding the importance of Chinese New Year Firecrackers. One popular belief is that the noise will wake up the dragon that will fly across the sky to bring the spring rain for the crops. Being a country where majority of the people depend on agriculture, timely arrival of showers are of great importance in China.
Another belief is that the exploding noise of the firecrackers will scare away all evil spirits and misfortunes, preventing them from coming into the New Year. In the Chinese New Year Parade, it is customary to throw firecrackers at the feet of the dragons in the parade to keep them awake for the celebration.
The lion dance is a popular recreation for the Chinese during their New Year festivities. The Chinese Lion Dance has been both an unique and integral element of Chinese culture for over a thousand years. In China, the lions are considered as a symbol for joy and happiness. From the fourth day to the fifteenth of the New Year festival, lion dance groups tour from village to village in traditional China and excite all the spectators with their electrifying performance.
Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival marks the end of the Chinese New Year season and afterwards life becomes daily routines once again. Traditions of the Chinese New Year vary from place to place, considering that China is a big country not only geographically, but also demographically and ethnically. Yet, the spirit underlying the diverse celebrations of the Chinese New Year is the same: a sincere wish of peace and happiness for the family members and friends.
